


Writing Prompt: Feathers Across the Seasons

by ComfyDreamer



Category: Vocaloid
Genre: Inspired by Music, Writing Exercise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-15
Updated: 2018-12-15
Packaged: 2019-09-19 14:01:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17003022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ComfyDreamer/pseuds/ComfyDreamer
Summary: A writing exercise that I attempted recently, to try out writing a prompt based on song lyrics.This is my retelling of Hitoshizuku-P'sFeathers Across the Seasons (四季折の羽, Shikiori no Hane), a Vocaloid song that tells a touching story based on a classic folk tale.





	Writing Prompt: Feathers Across the Seasons

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own the song or the characters, this is just my interpretation of the story, etc etc.
> 
> But good lord, I love this song in so many ways. Not only are Rin and Len my favorite Vocaloids of the bunch, but I also adore songs that tell stories. This had the best of both worlds for me - Rin and Len singing a song that told a very sentimental yet tragic story, based on a folk tale that I already liked. Also, the illustrations in the MV _really_ sold it for me. They're really pretty.
> 
> I would definitely recommend the song, although I must admit that the v4X cover I found completely blows the original out of the water for me.
> 
> This was my first time doing a writing prompt based on song lyrics, and adapting the lyrics into literary form was more difficult than I imagined. The fact that I had to rely on English translations didn't help either. But whatever, it was fun.
> 
> Also, uh, first time posting to an actual fandom. Huh.

It was a frigid night in the small mountain village. Powdery snow fluttered down from the grey skies, coloring the mountain range a pure white. Yet even as the clouds blocked out the sun’s light and the snow blanketed their home, there were two that refused to let the dismal atmosphere snuff out their happiness. In a small, run-down house, a married couple huddled together in the winter night, the warmth from their hearth soothing them despite the chilling air.

The blonde-haired man, Len, stared out the window. Looking at the gentle flurries of snow, he sighed as he remembered something.

His wife, Rin, tilted her head. “What is it?”

“It’d also been snowing like this the day we’d met.” Len murmured with a smile.

Rin closed her eyes as she recalled that moment. Neither of them would ever forget it. Up until that moment, Len had been living a lonely, solitary life. However, all of that had changed when a mysterious white-cloaked woman had showed up on his doorstep during that blizzard. Despite her pale skin and shivering body, the woman had nonetheless worn a smile warm enough to melt ice.

Len had welcomed her into his home and sheltered her from the blizzard. After witnessing his kindness, the woman had decided to take up residence in the village. Soon, Rin and Len had become fast friends. Then, caring lovers. And finally, husband and wife.

Rin couldn’t bring herself to answer her husband. Noticing that her face was flushed from the hearth, she buried it within Len’s sleeve. Len simply smiled as the two embraced each other, the comforting warmth spreading through their tired spirits.

 

_ At the beginning of spring… _

With a breath of joy, Rin sang of spring’s arrival alongside the chirping birds. Euphonic harmony drifted through the air as the optimistic choir seemed to make the spring colors even more vibrant than they already were.

Sitting beside her, Len smiled as he weaved a mattress with the straws in his lap. “Rin,” he told his wife, “your voice is beautiful.”

It was just a simple compliment, nothing more. However, those words alone were enough to make Rin’s face flush red with surprise. That surprise soon turned into an overwhelming joy that filled her heart as a smile crept across her face. Soon, Rin was beaming happily, her blonde hair glimmering in the morning sunlight like a second sun.

Yet even as Len smiled at her and happiness spread through her body, Rin couldn’t help but think about something a bit darker. Then, as she sat down beside her husband, Len stretching out and laying his head on her lap, she asked Len a question.

“If someday, I no longer had this beautiful voice, would you still love me?”

Len’s eyes widened in surprise at the odd question. Then, he laughed and smiled gently at his wife. “Rin, you don’t have to ask me questions like that. You know the answer already. Of course I will.”

At this answer, Rin couldn’t help but shed a few tears of happiness. Slowly, Len reached out and softly stroked Rin’s cheek to comfort her.

 

_ One midsummer afternoon… _

Rin hummed cheerfully to herself as she dug around in the soil, a basket of seeds clutched in her other hand. The seasons had come and gone, and it was now time to plant their crops again. They’d need to grow some food if they wanted to get by, after all.

As she planted, she heard the digging sounds behind her stop as Len’s hoe fell to the ground. As she heard her husband cough a bit, she sighed. “Len, don’t push yourself too much. If you need a break, then feel free to take one. I can handle this for now.”

Len didn’t answer as his coughing only intensified. As a chill went down Rin’s spine, she turned around to see her husband hunched over. “...Len? Are you okay?”

The Len turned towards her...and her heart stopped. Her dear husband had a hand clapped over his mouth, dark blood spurting from his mouth whenever he coughed. His eyes were wide and filled with agony.

“Len? LEN! Oh, no no no...I’ve got to get you inside! D-don’t worry! I’ll help you!”

 

_ Several days later… _

As the sun set over the summer landscape, the small house slowly became dark. Len was asleep on a floor mattress, with a thick blanket laid over his resting body. Yet, even as he slept, his face was still contorted in a pained grimace.

Kneeling over him, Rin gazed at her husband with a terrified helplessness. She had already called a doctor over to check on her husband, but it had accomplished next to nothing. Len had contracted a grave illness, one that the doctor had admitted that he had little knowledge of. Worse still, he didn’t have the cure - the only person that possessed it seemed to be a doctor in a nearby village, one that charged a hefty price for it. And unfortunately for them, their poor married life meant that they didn’t have enough money to afford it.

Seeing her husband reduced to such a vulnerable state, Rin’s fear was quickly replaced by a sort of determined resolve. Even if she could not cure Len’s illness, she was still ready to give everything she had in order to save him. Her dear husband, whom she loved so much...he deserved nothing but her all.

So, mere hours after the doctor departed, Rin quietly slid open the door to a small, dimly-lit room, where a loom laid in wait. Sitting down in front of the wooden contraption, Rin gave her arms a stretch and began her arduous task.

The next day, and the next, Rin did nothing but intently weave, creating cloth after exquisite cloth. Every time she finished one of her works, she would immediately leave to sell it in the village marketplace. Even as the villagers commended her remarkable weaving skill and wonderful textiles, Rin politely ignored their praise. She didn’t care about popularity - she just needed the money, so that she could buy the medicine to save Len. She didn’t care how hard she had to work, or how many weavings she would have to sell - she vowed that she wouldn’t let her husband’s life fall like the short-lived leaves of autumn.

Weeks passed, and Rin barely ever left that room. Even as her ailing husband pleaded for her to rest, Rin wouldn’t stop. Even as her own health deteriorated, she was dead-set on her goal. And she intended to achieve that goal.

Time passed, and the seasons flowed by. As the bell crickets marked the end of the summer with their cries, Rin sat with her husband as the setting sun darkened their room. Despite being pale, shaky, and tired, Len still wore the signature kindly smile that Rin loved so much.

As Len shivered, Rin wrapped her arms around him in an attempt to warm him up. Nodding in thanks, Len took Rin’s wounded, bandaged hands in his own. Despite their poor condition, Len still smiled. “Rin...you have such beautiful fingers.”

Rin’s heart fluttered at the compliment, but she couldn’t bring herself to smile. She knew that Len was trying to make her happy, but the hands gripping her own were far too cold for comfort.

All was silent for a few moments. Then, Rin decided to ask a question.

“If someday, I no longer had these beautiful fingers, would you still love me?”

This time, Len seemed to have formulated an answer before his wife had even finished her question. Wrapping his hands around Rin’s, he just smiled even as he coughed. “Of course I will.”

At this answer, Rin could do nothing but sob into his shoulder. Slowly, Len reached out and softly caressed her aching, scraped hands to comfort her.

 

The first weeks of fall were the worst of them all. Rin worked tirelessly, every waking moment devoted to weaving. Despite the fact that she had grown pale and shaky from overworking herself, she adamantly refused to let up, even as her vitality slowly but surely drained away. However, the quality of her weaving hadn’t deteriorated in the slightest.

Unfortunately for her, Len’s condition had worsened. He was no longer coughing, but he was now in a state that could only be described as half-dead. Len couldn’t even leave his bed anymore, and spent all of his time just lying there in a dreamlike stupor.

One fateful day, Rin had found Len asleep, a inkbrush and a piece of paper sprawled out beside him. Reading what were apparently a figment of his mind’s delirious wanderings, every word she read felt like an icicle jammed into her heart.

_ “The warm breeze of the sunset _

_ Sways the flame of the decaying fruit _

_ Until it is cruelly extinguished, _

_ And the fruit is dropped down to earth, vanishing amongst the leaves...” _

These depressed musings struck Rin with a desperate fervor as she realized how little time she might have left. Over the next couple of days, Rin pushed herself harder than ever before. Even as she felt the flame of her spirit flickering and dimming, she didn’t even think of stopping. Her mind, overwhelmed with fatigue but forbidden from resting, kept on going, pushing for a goal that she secretly doubted she could reach in time.

_ Day and night, don’t stop weaving… _

Rin panted as she pulled her newest work out of the loom and started anew.

_ Hurry, hurry, I just need to buy the medicine… _

Rin returned home carrying a pouch of coins. She checked her savings and grit her teeth with worry once she saw that they still weren’t enough.

_ Just a bit more...only a bit more...before the autumn leaves fall… _

Rin looked out the window, gazing at the fiery orange foliage lining the trees. Then, she looked back at her weaving, a nigh-identical replica of the autumn scenery.

_ Until my fingers can’t move anymore...until I run out of my feathers… _

Finishing yet another weaving, Rin collapsed onto the loom. Her fingers, covered with bruises and bandages, were dripping blood. Staring at the basket of feathers beside her, she realized that she was running out. Then, she stared out the door, only to see Len cough up more blood, groan, and slump to the floor again.

Faced with such insurmountable odds, Rin couldn’t help but let loose an desperate, despairing scream as tears flowed down her face. Memories flickered through her mind - memories of a brighter time. The times when they had plucked ripe fruit for each other, the days they had spent talking in the shade, the time they had spent laughing amidst the sun-kissed hills...all of these memories would be cruelly dashed away if Rin failed to complete her task in time.

_ Please...if anyone is watching...please help me. I don’t care what I have to give. Even if I need to lay down my life, I’d do it in an instant - because I know he would do the same for me. Just...please, save him. That’s all I ask… _

 

Two days later, Rin sat alone in the dark room. A nearly-completed tapestry was in her worn loom. Yet even as she stared at the immaculate weaving, Rin’s mind was elsewhere. Her eyes slowly drifted to the window, where she saw early snow fluttering down from the monochrome sky.

_ “It’d also been snowing like this the day we’d met.” _

That was what Len had told her nearly a year ago. Indeed, that had been the case - it  _ had  _ been snowing like this the moment they had met...or so Len had thought.

Rin recalled the story that Len had told her so many times. Right before that snowy night, it had been a sunny winter day. Len had been going for a stroll, when he had suddenly heard a rustling noise coming from a nearby bush. Investigating, he had soon found a beautiful, pure-white crane, struggling to free its leg from a trap.

Seeing such a noble bird laid low like this, Len’s heart had been filled with pity. Reaching down, he had undone the noose that restrained the creature. He had told her how the crane had seemed to stare into his eyes with curiosity, before spreading its wings and taking off for places unknown.

No matter how many times she listened to it, Rin would always smile at the story - after all, Len’s kindness was one of the many things she loved him for. Len would always laugh, saying how Rin had showed up the night right after that had happened. He called it a stroke of fate, or even a bout of good karma.

However, only Rin knew that her appearance on that night was anything but a coincidence.

With trembling hands, she pulled up her sleeve, revealing shallow but innumerable lacerations all over her arms. Taking a deep breath, she willed a single, pale feather to appear on her arm.

Unknown to her husband, Rin had once lived a far simpler life - one of carefree flying and foraging. Yet, on that fateful day, that gold-haired man had performed an act of kindness and spared her life - and that was something that she couldn’t just forget about. Taking on a form vaguely fashioned after his own, Rin had appeared to him as a mysterious stranger, intent on repaying her debt to him.

It hadn’t been her original intention, but Rin had soon found herself falling deeply in love with this kindly man - and it was clear that Len had also begun to cherish her greatly. As this return of a favor eventually blossomed into a loving relationship, Rin had made a decision - she wanted to live like this for the rest of her days. This new life had given her more happiness than anything in her past life. Although she still felt indebted to him, the truth was that Len was no longer just her savior - he was her husband.

Yet within the span of months, this idyllic life had fallen to pieces. Len was now on death’s door, and Rin had given up everything to try and help him - and failed nonetheless.

Well... _ almost _ everything.

Judging from the first couple weavings she had sold, she had known from the start that normal weavings weren’t going to get her the money she needed. So, she had turned to an alternate source for material - her own feathers. The pure-white plumage that had once covered her old form was softer and more delicate than any material Rin knew about. She had known from a long time ago that losing these feathers was tantamount to burning her own lifeline, but she didn’t care. To save Len, she was willing to give up anything, up to and including her very life.

Yet she had kept her true nature a secret from her husband, the man whom she trusted the most. During the time that they had spent together, Rin had hidden her feathers away from her husband - he didn’t even know what she had been using to weave for this entire time. She knew that Len trusted her to tell him about anything that was ailing her...so why did she still refuse to tell him the truth?

It was all because of one question. One, simple question that had lingered in the back of Rin’s mind ever since the day they had met.

Staring at the faintly glowing feather in front of her, tears began rolling down Rin’s cheeks. Then, as if imagining Len was right in front of her, she quietly asked the question that had plagued her mind for years.

_ “If someday, I were no longer human, would you still love me?” _

Over the years, Rin had longed for an answer to that question, but she had also been too scared of the answer to ask it. But now...it was likely too late. The truth that she feared was now unable to be told.

With this in mind, she stared at the tapestry laid out before her. In her heart, she already knew that she was too late. But she still felt a drive of sorts...one compelling her to give her all, despite the fact that she had already failed. It was just missing a bit more...and Rin was ready to give that little bit more. 

Then, all alone in the dark room, she softly plucked her final feather…

“Rin...”

The golden-haired woman froze, her eyes widening in surprise as a pair of warm arms embraced her from behind.

“Rin...what did I say? You don’t need to ask me those questions.” Len muttered softly, hugging his wife tightly. “You already know the answer. Of course I will.”

Rin gasped again as her husband’s warmth spread through her body, softening the pain of her rapidly dwindling vitality. “You...you really…”

“Of course.” Len said, smiling despite the hollow pain in his chest. “It doesn’t matter what happens to you. As long as you’re still you...my answer won’t change.”

“B-but...how did you know?”

“I had my reasons...in reality, I never believed that our meeting was a coincidence. There was something about you...you gave off a feeling that you wanted to repay a debt of sorts. I had my suspicions...but you just confirmed them."

Rin shuddered as her body went limp, tears streaming down her face. “I..I’m so sorry...I didn’t tell you earlier…”

“Shh...it’s okay.” Len whispered gently. “Remember that we promised each other that we would stick together, no matter what happened. After all, you embraced me when I fell ill...so, it’s only natural that I embrace you now that you've lost your wings. The crane that had taken flight so beautifully on that day...I’ve never forgotten it, and I never will.”

Rin could do nothing but sob into her husband’s shoulder as they hugged each other. Smiling sadly, Len held her tightly as he gave her the truth that she wanted.

“And even now, as always, I still love you.”

 

_ The villagers were a bit concerned when Rin didn’t return to the marketplace for a week. In fact, both Rin and Len were nowhere to be seen. _

_ Eventually, their neighbors got curious and checked their house. Opening the door to the room that they knew Rin weaved in, they were shocked to find the couple lying motionless on the floor, their arms wrapped around one another. A beautiful tapestry lay finished on the table - one depicting a crane taking flight on a cold winter day. _

_ The villagers didn’t know what had caused the couple to simultaneously drop dead like that. However, despite living a mostly solitary life, the pair were well-respected in the village - and the people were saddened by their passing. So, the villagers took their bodies, held a quick funeral the next day, and buried them in the local graveyard. _

_ Rin’s final tapestry adorned their shared gravestone. It remained there for years to come. _

_ Yet, as the passage of time flowed on, the villagers noticed that the grave had become a frequent gathering spot for the snowy-white cranes that lived in the area. _

_ But nobody ever found out the truth behind the ill-fated couple. _

**Author's Note:**

> Last part was a massive pain to adapt into writing, but I'm not exceptionally willing to put any more effort into it.
> 
> I'll admit that this song was one of very few that actually made me feel sad after watching it. Especially the part where Rin is crying, asking if Len would still love her if she were no longer human. And then Len answers...
> 
> _"Soshite, kawarazu kimi wo...aishiteiru yo..."_


End file.
